Over a year ago, we were approached by Siri, who wanted to take a fresh approach to voice recognition. Their goal was to make voice search contextually relevant (more so than the “Call home.” cliché) and actionable with third-party services. Siri wanted to tap into the vast network of OpenTable restaurants and prove their model through a use case everyone can understand – making a reservation. I have to admit some of us here were a little skeptical and thought we’d have to speak like a robot to make it work. However, we were pleasantly surprised when we spoke a natural but complicated phrase — “Find a table for two at Bambino’s this Saturday at 7PM,” — and Siri came back with a relevant response. From there, the reservation was confirmed in no time.

Siri took this usability concept one step further by responding to your queries on screen, rather than reading it back to you in monotone, which we all know would be an embarrassing experience in public. (By the way, if Siri makes an Auto-Tune version, I’ll go from being embarrassed to insisting it speak back to me.)

You may be wondering if Siri can do more than just search for a specific restaurant (incidentally, our forthcoming iPhone update will let you type in the name of a restaurant and reserve it right then and there). Try saying, “Show me Italian restaurants around here with tables tonight,” and feel a smile cross your face when Siri does just that. Siri is leading the field in voice recognition, and OpenTable is proud to be part of proving this incredible concept.

Have you tried Siri yet? Let us know what you think here or over on Facebook.

Josh Garnier is an OpenTable Product Manager.

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Caroline Potter

Caroline Potter is the Chief Dining Officer for OpenTable, Inc. She’s a dining trend-spotter and an OpenTable VIP, who dines out more than she eats in and has accrued more than 10,000 Dining Rewards points. Caroline started working in restaurants as a teen and she's since tackled every front-of-the-house job, from bartender and hostess to runner and server. She trained as a chef at Manhattan’s prestigious French Culinary Institute, cooking at L’Ecole. In addition to her role at OpenTable, she has written about food from farm to table for New York City’s famed Greenmarket and Edible Brooklyn and Edible East End magazines. Caroline is also a Certified Master Gardener.